Finding a New Mechanic and Mechanic Advisor Review

Hi everybody. Today I want to talk about finding a new mechanic. The folks over at MechanicAdvisor.com contacted me and asked me to check out their site. It is a place for folks to find a local repair shop, and read reviews. Think of Yelp, built specifically for repair shops.

I thought we have talked about ways to find a new mechanic before. But, after must research, I was wrong. That or I am bad at using the search feature on my own site LOL.

If you move to a new town, buy a new car, or maybe your mechanic retires, finding a new mechanic can be tough. Here are a tips to help you find a new mechanic.

Ask your friends
This can be a good start. If a trusted friend trusts their mechanic, give them a shot. I personally never recommend anyone to a friend unless I 100% trust them and their service. I would still recommend being cautious. Also be sure to let the mechanic know who referred you. I get a good amount of referrals that I have no idea where they came from.

Ask the internet
Sites like MechanicAdvisor,Yelp, and forums “CAN” be a good resource. If a site has the ability to review the company, take the review for what it is. One persons opinion about their experience. There are multiple angles at play here.

Is the shop really good/bad

What was the issue? Was someone mad they had to spend money, or did they get bad service?

Did an employee do the review? (it happens)

Was it a review on a specific mechanic? Odds are it was not.

Every shop has some techs that are better than others. But even great techs have bad days. All I am stressing here is take reviews for what they are. And remember the term “internet muscles” 😉

Ask a fellow driver
This might be the single BEST way to find a new mechanic. If you drive a VW, ask another VW driver who services their car. If they have a person they love, they will tell you. On the flip side, if they have had a bad experience, get ready for a download.

This is actually a fun thing to do even if you don’t need a new mechanic. Most folks have a strong opinion either way when it comes to getting their car serviced.

One more piece of advice. Ask for a specific person, not just the place. It is like going to your favorite restaurant, and being seated with a server you don’t relate to.

How did you find your mechanic? Was it just luck of the draw?

MechanicAdvisor review
This is a site to find a mechanic. It is a clean and well designed site. It allows you to search by brand and location. Like I do with all my reviews, here are the Pros and Con

Pros

Nice clean design

the blog and Q&A section has TONS of great information

It is not just for cars, they have mechanics for boats and motorcycles too

Coupons for local shops.

The reviews are better than Yelp

Cons

most shops have few reviews

Some shop info is not up to date

Those cons are VERY minor. I did a local search for VW shops. It came up with one that has been closed for a while. Just to compare, I did the same search on Yelp. It listed the same shop. So I don’t really think it’s an issue with Mechanic Advisor. Overall I think it is a great resource for finding a mechanic.

This is a great resource Charles! I have been following your blog for some time, and this is gold material for me to promote my invoicing software, indeed, I feel obliged to respect karma and offer you a free account of our auto invoicing software, if interested, and of course your feedback would be most appreciated if you had the time.

Great post. It seems that because mechanics are always feared as the result of the stereotype a few bad seeds have caused, recommendations from fellow drivers and friends always seems to be the best bet no matter where you are

Increasingly people should also look for mechanics and repair shops that can take information posted over the internet from the vehicle. Our software provides car and fleet owners direct access to OBD2 information and maintenance scheduling that can be shared automatically with their repair shop. It is very rare to find mechanics who are willing to include automated emails from systems like ours into their scheduling and maintenance sales.

Charles
Nice post i always love to read your blog because of its interesting material.You always share point to point and relevant information about cars.Body repair estimate is always a great deal to vehicle owner.